1.
Olympique Lyonnais
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Olympique Lyonnais is a French football club based in Lyon. It plays in Frances highest football division, Ligue 1, the club was formed as Lyon Olympique Universitaire in 1899, according to many supporters and sport historians, but was nationally established as a club in 1950. The clubs most successful period has been the 21st century, the club won its first Ligue 1 championship in 2002, starting a national record-setting streak of seven successive titles. Lyon has also won a record seven Trophée des Champions, five Coupe de France titles, Olympique Lyonnais plays its home matches at the 59, 186-seat Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Décines-Charpieu, a suburb of Lyon. The clubs home colours are white, red and blue, Lyon was a member of the G14 group of leading European football clubs and are founder members of its successor, the European Club Association. Olympique Lyonnais is one of the clubs in France. A2009 survey found that about 11% of the football fans support the club. The clubs nickname, Les Gones, means The Kids in Lyons regional dialect of Arpitan, the chairman of Lyon is Jean-Michel Aulas and the club is managed by Bruno Génésio. Olympique Lyonnais also has a womens football team having won its league a record nine times. The womens team has won three Challenge de France titles and the UEFA Womens Champions League in 2011 and 2012. Olympique Lyonnais was initially formed under the multisports club Lyon Olympique Universitaire, on 3 August 1950, Louots plan came to fruition when Olympique Lyonnais was officially founded by Dr. Albert Trillat and numerous others. The clubs first manager was Oscar Heisserer and, on 26 August 1950, in just the clubs second year of existence, Lyon was crowned champion of the second division, securing promotion to the first division. The club maintained its first division place for the remainder of the decade, Lyon achieved moderate success during the 1960s and 1970s with the likes of Fleury Di Nallo, Néstor Combin, Serge Chiesa, Bernard Lacombe and Jean Djorkaeff playing major roles. Under manager Lucien Jasseron, Lyon won its first-ever Coupe de France title defeating Bordeaux 2–0 in the 1963–64 season, the club also performed respectably in the league under Jasserons reign until the 1965–66 season, when Lyon finished 16th, which ultimately led to Jasserons departure. His replacement was Louis Hon, who helped Lyon win their second Coupe de France title after defeating Sochaux 3–1 in the 1966–67 season, Lyon was managed by former Lyon legend Aimé Mignot heading into the 1970s. Under Mignots helm, Lyon won its third Coupe de France title in 1972–73, in June 1987, Lyon was bought by Rhône businessman Jean-Michel Aulas who took control of the club aiming to turn Lyon into an established Ligue 1 side. His ambitious plan, titled OL – Europe, was designed to develop the club at the European level, the first manager under the new hierarchy was Raymond Domenech. The aspiring chairman gave Domenech carte blanche to recruit whoever he saw fit to help the team reach the first division and they went on to accomplish this in Domenechs first season in charge

2.
Le Mans FC
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Le Mans Football Club is a French association football club based in Le Mans. The club was founded in 1985 as a result of a merger under the name Le Mans Union Club 72. In 2010, Le Mans changed its name to Le Mans FC to coincide with the re-modeling of the club, which includes moving into a new stadium, MMArena, which opened in January 2011. The club played in Ligue 2, the level of French football having suffered relegation from Ligue 1 following the 2009–10 season. Due to financial difficulties, the club lost its status in 2013, went bankrupt. The club won back to CFA2 at the first time of asking. Le Mans Sports Club were founded in 1900, but it wasnt until 1908 that a club existed within it. In 1910, Le Mans qualified for the Championnat de la France in 1910, gaining a huge reputation up to World War I, Le Mans SC plunged into obscurity by World War II before joining the a war league in 1942. The football section of Union Sportive du Mans was founded in 1903, the current club was formed as a result of a merger between Union Sportive du Mans and Le Mans Sports Club, on 12 June 1985. Upon its foundation, former football player Bernard Deferrez was installed as manager, Le Mans UC spent the majority of its infancy in Ligue 2. In the 2003–04 season, the club achieved promotion to Ligue 1 for the first time, Le Mans returned to the first division for the 2005–06 season and successfully remained in the league for the next four seasons. The club suffered relegated back to Ligue 2 in the 2009–10 season, midway through the campaign, on 2 December 2009, Le Mans announced that it was changing its name from Le Mans Union Club 72 to Le Mans FC. Le Mans moved to the MMArena midway through the 2010–11 season, comfortably in the spots for a return to Ligue 1. The failure to achieve promotion is costly, as the club sees its payroll limited by the DNCG, many players leave, and relegation is only narrowly avoided. The club survives by appeal an attempt by DNCG to relegate them to Championnat National, the following season they are relegated on the field, and a long summer of legal battles sees them liqudated and reforming in Maine Division dHonneur as an amateur club. Promotion to Championnat de France Amateur 2 was achieved at the first attempt, note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, below are the notable former players who have represented Le Mans and its predecessors in league and international competition since the clubs foundation in 1985. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 100 official matches for the club

3.
Amiens SC
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Amiens Sporting Club is a French association football club based in the northern city of Amiens in the Picardy region. The club was formed in 1901 and currently play in Ligue 2, the club plays its home matches at the Stade de la Licorne located within the city. Amiens is managed by Olivier Echouafni and captained by defender Stéphane Mangione, Amiens Athlétic Club was set up in 1901 by a group of players from the Association du Lycée dAmiens, French schoolboy champions in 1902,1903, and 1904. AAC crushed its very first opponents, Saint-Quentin, 13–0 a few months after its creation, in April 1902, the Comité de Picardie de lU. S. F. S. A was established by the then-president of the AAC. AAC dominated the early USFSA league for the first 12 seasons, in 1909, the club got a new ground, at the Henry Daussy Park, allowing an attendance of more than 1,000. In 1933, the club got its first professional section, later abandoned in 1952, since the early days, AAC has undergone two name changes, In 1961, to Sporting Club dAmiens, and in 1989, as Amiens Sporting Club. Amiens played in Ligue 2 between 2001–2009, the team will make a return to the second tier of French football for the 2016–2017 season, after finishing 3rd in the Championnat National. As of 28 Jasnuary,2017 Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules, players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules, players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Below are the former players who have represented Amiens and its predecessors in league. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 80 official matches for the club, for a list of former Amiens players, see Category, Amiens SC players

4.
FC Rouen
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Football Club de Rouen 1899 was a French association football club based in Rouen. The club was formed in 1899 and played its last years in the Division dHonneur, Rouen played its home matches at the Stade Robert Diochon, named after Robert Diochon, a historic player who was influential during the clubs infancy. The team is managed by former football player Éric Garcin and captained by defender Pierre Vignaud, Rouen is known as Les Diables Rouges and have been since 1903. Rouens football division was founded in 1899, but the club itself was founded in 1896 as a rugby club, the club achieved professional status in 1933 and have spent 19 seasons in the first division of French football and 36 in the second division. Rouens highest honour to date was winning the division in 1936. In addition to Robert Diochon, Rouen have produced a host of players who contributed to the France national team during the early years. One of the notable players were Edmond Delfour and Jean Nicolas. Delfour made 41 appearances with the team from 1929–1938 and participated in three FIFA World Cups 1930,1934 and 1938. He is one of five players to have appeared in all three of the pre-war World Cups, Delfour later went on to manage Rouen from 1940–1945 during the unofficial wartime championships. Nicolas spent his career with Rouen and appeared in 25 matches scoring 21 goals with the national team from 1933–1938. In present-day, Nicolas goal output with the ranks for tenth all-time. Football Club de Rouen 1899 was founded under the name Football Club de Rouen in 1896 by an English merchant known by the surname Willing, the club was initially formed as a rugby club. Rouen spent three seasons primarily playing the sport of rugby before association football was introduced to the club in 1899, on 11 July 1899, the club officially announced the introduction of a football section. The section was influenced by player Robert Diochon was, upon its creation, inserted into the regional league, Normandie Championnat. In 1903, the acquired the nickname Les Diables Rouges. In 1910, Diochon was installed as president of the club, under the reign of Diochon, Rouen won the Normandie Championnat in five straight seasons from 1909–1914. After World War I and the dissolving of the USFSA, Rouen began playing in the Normandie Division dHonneur, from 1919–1933, the club won the league eight times and were led by mercurial striker Jean Nicolas. In 1925, Rouen reached the Coupe de France final, in the final, the club faced CASG Paris and were defeated 3–2 in the second leg of the final

5.
Lille OSC
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LOSC Lille is a French association football club based in Lille. The club was founded in 1944 as a result of a merger and currently play in Ligue 1, Lille has played its home matches since 2012 at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in nearby Villeneuve dAscq, which replaced the clubs previous home of Stade Lille-Metropole in the same community. The team is captained by French international Rio Mavuba, Lille was founded as a result of a merger between Olympique Lillois and SC Fives. Both clubs were founding members of the French Division 1 and Lillois was the inaugural champions. Under the Lille emblem, the club has won three titles in 1946,1954, and 2011 and six Coupe de France titles. Lille and Red Star FC are the only French clubs in the history to win the Coupe de France in three consecutive seasons. Lilles most successful period was the decade from 1946 to 1956 when the team was led by managers George Berry, Lille have a long-standing rivalry with its neighbours RC Lens. The two clubs regularly contest the Derby du Nord, Lille is presided over by Gérard Lopez, an entrepreneur-investor and an active Luxembourgish-Spanish businessman that invests in the sports industry. Before the Second World War, the city of Lille had two clubs in Ligue 1, Olympique Lillois and Sporting Club Fivois, weakened by the war, the two clubs decided to merge in the autumn of 1944, giving birth to Lille Olympique Sporting Club. Within its first decade of existence, the new club won two titles and reached the second place for four consecutive seasons. In the Coupe de France the club accumulated five wins in seven finals, the final of the Latin Cup was also reached. Lille was relegated for the first time in 1956, the club became a mid-table side and in the late 1960s, after a long period of anonymity, and weighed down by a lack of facilities and resources, Lille abandoned its professional status. It was feared that the club might disappear, however, some young leaders, such as Max Pommerolle, came and gave new impetus to the club. Nevertheless, the results remained erratic and the titles that ignited the fans passions were won in the Second Division. In July 1980, Lille was the first French club to opt for the status of a Mixed Economy Company, the team of presidents Amyot, Deschot and Dewailly all struggled to compete with the top teams in the country. Jacques Amyots resignation in 1990 led to three more years for the club which compromised its very existence. It took Bernard Lecomtes arrival in 1993 to set the club finances on the road to recovery, after a final relegation in 1997, the team trained by Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodžić was soon promoted back to the elite, in the same year the French Football League was privatised. In just its first season back in the top flight 2000–01 French Division 1, Lille qualified for Europe for the first time in the clubs history, booking its place in the 2000–01 Champions League